THE INVENTOR of the world's first ever cash machine, which was installed in Enfield in the Sixties, has died aged 84.

Scot John Shepherd-Barron came up with the concept for the machine while in the bath after being locked out of his bank.

As managing director of De La Rue, a cash handling company, Mr Shepherd-Barron's creation worked by customers being given paper vouchers, laced with a mildly radioactive agent, which were then inserted into the machine. Cash was returned after a four digit code was entered, much the same as today.

He then sold the idea to Barclays, who chose the bank's Enfield Town as a prime spot to test his invention because it abuts the market square providing space for queues to form.

Opened on June 27 1967, the cashpoint did indeed cause crowds to flock to the town, though this may also have been to catch a sight of ‘On the Buses’ actor Reg Varney who opened it.

By the end of the 1960s there were 781 cash machines across the world, 595 of which were in the UK. There are now over 63,000 in the UK which allow you to obtain cash, top up a mobile phone, check a bank balance, request a bank statement and change a PIN number.

Mr Shepherd-Barron died on Saturday after a short illness.